Mail-box.



M. W. SMITH.

MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 22,1916.

Patented Apr. 30,1918.

MYRON WARREN SMITH, OF LEROY, NEW YORK.

MAIL-BOX.

Specification of- Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 30 191%.

Application filed April 22, 1918. Serial No. 92,978.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MYnoN W. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Le Boy, in the county of Genesee and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MaiLBoxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, olear,.and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is animprovement in mail boxes of that type which is used in rural districts to facilitatethe handling of mail by rural mail carriers.

The invention aims to save the time of the carrier in, the delivery of mail to and collection from the boxes on the route. The invention is characterized by a box of simple construction which protects the contents from injury by weather, and which will enable the carrier to determine instantly, by means of the signal, whether thereis mail to be collected by him, and after such mail shall have been removed from the box,

the signal will automatically move to a position to indicate to the carrier that the box contains no mail to be collected by him.

The invention also comprises novel. features of construction and operation which will become apparent in the following clevention is disclosed in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the tail description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

"While a preferred embodiment of the inconstruction therein set forth is for the purposes of illustration only, and not as defining the limits-of the invention.

In the drawings s Figure 1 is a front view of the device ;with the signal in raised position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation disclosing the signal and the door partly opened, parts being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly in section, disclosingthe slgnal fastening means and the interior ofthe box.

Fig. '4 is a rearview, partly in section,

disclosingthe door and itsoperating means.

ing clip inthe interior of the box.

-Aconsiderable amount of time is com mine whether it contains mail to be col lected by them. Some types of boxes are provided with signals which the owner is supposed to set or drop to notlfy the car rier, but itis not unusual to have the owner of the box disregard the signal, thereby im- I posing the burden upon the carrier to make an unnecessary full stop with consequent loss of time.

This invention includes a mail box wherein the slgnal to the carrier to stop is designed to be set by some person other than the carrier, and which signal, after the carrier,

has collected the mail, will automatically move to a non-signaling position, said move ment being actuated by the movement of the door of the box. Should the signal not be set, and the carrier has mail to be delivered, it is not necessary for him to come to a full stop to deposit the mail, thereby saving time to the carrier. The invention also contemplates a novel construction of sheet iron box wherein the front, bottom, back and sides may be formed from a single sheet of material, cut and bent into desired shape, with a removable top. The door may be made of a sheet of material having a lower guard and stop, the front of the boxbeing provided with a door sill or ledge to coiiperate with the inclination of the door to prevent the ingress of moisture to the interior of the box.

Referringmore particularly to the drawings, the body of the box is shown provided with a bottom 1, back, sides 3 and front 4. These members may be cut and bent from a single sheet of material, if so desired,and properly secured together by any suitable means at the meeting edges 5 of the sides with the front and back, thereby providing a substantially water-tightreceptacle. The upper portion of the sides 3 may be pro vided with an outwardly directed flange 6,

and the back may be provided with a flange 7 which may bedirected either inwardly of the box or exteriorly thereof, as may be found desirable. The cover, in the form a of a single plate 8 may be provided with a turned over portlon 9 at thefront and sides to slidably engage the side flanges 6 and hook over the front or rear of the box and thereby limit the slidable movement of the cover in one direction. The top may be se-. 2

' hook-14 when the signalis in its raised or signaling position. If desired, the M11115 as, at to provide space for-a door ll.

The door is hingedly mounted to the box in any sultable manner, one means belng shown 7 i as a rod 12 extending through the box adj acent the" front side thereof and pivotally mounted in hearings in the sides 3, thedoor being secured to the rod to move therewith.

One end of this rod 12 is'shown extending through the side 3 and provided with an arm 13 terminating in a hook 14 exterior of the box.

Pivotally mounted to one side 3 of the box is a signal arm 15, carrying a signal 16, the arm being shown pivoted at 17 to the side '3 of the box. This arm is shown provided with an ear 18 which may be offset from the arm, the car being shown perforated to receive the hooked end ,14 of the rod 12. 7 The signal 16 is so mounted on the side3 that it can only be engaged by the may be bent at 19 to cause the arm 15 to be spaced away from the side of the box and thereby enable the signal16 to be moved past flanges 6 and positioned above the top 'of the box. The front 4 of the box is shown 7 provided with an elongated lip which is bent downwardly, as at 20 from the horizontal plane of thebox and thence inwardly against the vertical face of the front 4 a of the box as indicated at 21, thereby form- -*ing a ledge for the door.

The door 11 may beprovided with a lower angular flange 22 terminating ina depending apron 23 designedto be positioned inte- 'rior ofthe box'and to abut against the in- '-ner face of the front 4, the angular flange 22 permitting the'door to extend outwardly beyond the plane of the front wall 4 and thereby cooperating with the ledge 20 in deflecting rain, sleet and snow from the interior of the box. If desired, the side edges of thedoor may be provided with inwardly directed flanges 24 which contact with a stop strip 25 of the front 4 ofthe box.

The door is mounted in its closed position by any-suitablemeans, shown in the drawings as a spring 26 which has an arm 27, adapted to bear against the interior of the door and be seated against a side flange 24. If desired, the spring 26 may be of the convolute type and provided with a retaining loop 27 bent in the form of a U-shaped member. The spring 26 may be retained in position'by a single bolt 28 engaging the retaining loop 27 V 7 The bottom 1 of the mail box may be provided with a mail directingclip 29 which may have a; plurality of resilient upstanding arms 30 and a forwardly directed arm 31 shown of greater length than the arms 30 to engage mail as'it is deposited in the box and to cause it to be elevated from the bottom of the box. The signal arm 15 may be provided with a hook-guide 82, which mav be in the form of a strip of metal bent at to form an upper section 34 terminating in the perforated ear 18, where the upper section is secured to the signal arm 15, and may be provided also with a lower section 85. This lower section may be twisted at 36 to provide the engaging and supporting plate 37 which is shown positioned against the arm 15 where it may be secured in any suitable manner, as by soldering. The

funct-ionpof this guide 32 is to engage the hook end 14 of the rod 12, in the various positions of the arm 15, other than that where- .in the hook 14 maintains the signal 16 in its upright position. The guide serves to direct the hook toward the aperture in the car 18 so that the elevation of the signal 16 to its signaling position will cause the hook 14 to automatically engage the aperture in the ear 18. Then the mail is deposited in the box to be collected by the carrier, the end 14 of the rod 12 is hooked automatically into the ear 18 of the arm 15 by the gravity action of the hook 14 and its engagement with the hook-guide 32, as described, to thereby maintain the signal 16 in a position above the top of the box where it can be readily observed by the carrier. The carrier, pushing inwardly and downwardly, moves the door 11 to its open position, causing its rod 12 to move in the sides 3 and thereby causing the arm 13 to be lifted to disengage the hook 14 from the ear 18. The weight of the signal 16, which is held slightly out of perpendicular by the hook 14, will cause the signal to move to its lower or concealed position when released by the arm 13.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A mail box having a portion of the front thereof cut away to form a doorway, a door to cooperate with said doorway, means to pivotally mount the door between the sides of the box, and flanges on the door bent out of the plane thereof to cooperate with the front of the box when in its closed position, whereby the door may extend beyond the plane of the front when in said closed position.

2.'A mail box having a portion of the front thereof cut away to form a doorway and bent to form a projecting sill for the doorway, a door to cooperate with the doorway, means to pivotally mount said door between the sides of the box, flanges on the door bent out of the plane thereof, said flanges designed to engage the front of the box, when the door is closed, and means to retain the door in a normally closed position whereby said door extends beyond the plane of the front to cooperate with the pro jecting sill.

3; A mail box having front and sides, the front being cut away, a portion of the front being bent to form an extended downwardly deflected door ledge and a door hingedly mounted between the sides and provided with flanges at the sides and bottom to limit the outward movement of the door, said flanges to be bent out of the plane of the door to permit of said door when in its closed-position extending beyond the plane of the front of the box.

4. A mail box having a body provided with sides, a signal arm pivotally mounted on one side thereof and adapted to move to have the signal carried by the arm extend beyond the box, said signal arm being provided with an ear, a door provided with a rod and suspended thereby from the walls of the box, one end of said rod terminating in a hook exterior of the body, which hook is adapted to engage the ear of the signal arm to maintain the signal in its raised position when the door is closed and to permit the signal to fall when the door is opened.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

MYRON WARREN SMITH. Witnesses: DONALD H. MoPHERsoN, FRANK O. MCPHERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

